Tally or checking system.



J. E. GONDON. TALLY OR CHECKING SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1904. RENEWED 110v. 11, 1910.

991,81 9,, Patented June 13, 1911.

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JOHN EDWARD CONDON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNQR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE IE. MAGUIRE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TAL'LY OR CHECKING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11% 13, 1911.

Application filed July 23, 1904, Serial No. 217,882. Renewed November 11, 1910. Serial No. 591,871.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, JOHN EDWARD GoN- DON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, borough of Manhattan, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tally or Checking Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in a checking or tally system adapted particularly for use in restaurants and hotels for the purpose of enabling cashiers or checkers to keep an accurate check or tally on orders given by the patrons thereof.

It contemplates a system wherein the prices of the various articles ordered can be simultaneously stamped on the cashiers sheet and waiters check and wherein for this purpose the waiters check can be expeditiously and accurately placed in register with his individual account on the cashiers sheet.

It further provides a system which insures absolute harmony between the waitcrs check and the cashiers sheet, thereby eliminating to a great extent any fraudulent practices on the part of dishonest waiters. In the event of the loss of a waiters check after the same has been recorded or tallied, it presents an easy way of determining the amount of said check.

With these objects and others of a similar nature in view, I provide a tally sheet separated or divided into columns, corresponding to the individual accounts of the waiters, which columns are separated from each other by shoulders, ridges, elevations or other means whereby the waiters check is adapted to be quickly placed in register with his column on the tally sheet and the prices of the articles on his check simultaneously stamped by means of a double stamp or die on the check and sheet.

The invention will be readily understood from the following detailed description thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of the cashiers sheet; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the waiters check; Fig. 3 shows the cashiers sheet with the waiters check placed thereon in position for the stamping operation; Fig. 4 is an edge View of the tally sheet; and Fig. 5

is a perspective view of the double stamp or die.

In the drawings, I have designated the cashiers tally sheet by A, the waiters slip by B, and the die by C. In the form of tally sheet illustrated, the said sheet or tablet is made up of overlapping sections, a, the edges, b, of which serve as the lateral edges or boundaries of the columns, 0. These columns have headings, (Z, and, excepting the first and last, are numbered 1, 2, 3, &, etc., to correspond to the numbers by which the waiters are designated. The sheet contains one or more spaces, c, above the said headings, on which may be designated, if de sired, the name of the hotel or restaurant, the date of the checking, etc. It also contains two or more horizontal divisions, f, g, near the bottom to enable the cashier to insert the totals of each waiter, and adjoining spaces for the auditor to check off the cashier. The end column may be used also for getting the totals along the different horizontal lines of figures, thereby providing a check on the complete totals obtained by adding the individual columns of the waiters.

It will be noted that in the construction of the tally sheet, as heretofore described, there is a shoulder, 6, extending upwardly from the tabulat-ing surface of each column, C, each shoulder intervening two adjacent tabulating columns. The waiters check, B, numbered serially 1 is of the usual form, containing thereon the number of the waiter, and providing spaces for enumerating the different articles ordered and their prices. The stamp or die, C, of which there would be a series running from five cents up, is of the usual shape, and it contains duplicate numbers which are spaced a proper dis tance apart. 7

To illustrate the method of using my system, I will give a concrete example. Suppose a patron orders grape fruit, the price of which we will say is 35 cents. The waiter takes the order, writing the name grape fruit on his check; he then goes to the cashier or checker who takes the check, places it on his tally sheet against the edge, Z), in column No. 6, the COlIHDIl assigned to the particular waiter; he then takes his stamp or die with the number 35 in duplicate on the bottomthereof, and simultaneously, by a single operation, stamps 35 on the waiters check and also on the tally sheet. The waiter then takes the check and proceeds to fill the order. Like orders are filled in this way, and it is obvious that if desired the complete order may be checked at one time. It will be noted that the sales in the column of a particular waiter must agree with those on his separate slips, hence there is no reasonable cause for error or confusion. Further, on account of the raised partitions or shoulders, b, the waiters check can be quickly and accurately adjusted or brought into register with his individual column; hence the work of check- I ing is materially expedited over the present methods in use wherein the columns are separated by lines merely and the stamping usually done by a single stamp or die, thereby requiring a separate operation in stamping each item on the check and on the tally sheet.

My device is simple, economical and easily operated, and in practical use has proven of great utility.

It will be obvious that changes and modifications may be made in the structure as described, which illustrates merely one forum of my invention, and I therefore reserve the right to make any and all changes, such as the use of equivalents, which come within the spirit of my invention as set forth herein. It will be apparent, for instance, that instead of making the tally sheet from separate sections, it might be made by properly rolling or pressing a single sheet so as to produce the desired elevations or demarcations therein.

Having thus full described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a system of the class described, a tally sheet having tabulating columns, and shoulders between said columns, each shoulder extending upwardly from the surface of a column adjacent thereto, said shoulder being adapted to form an abutment for a waiters check, the adjacent tabulating columns being exposed on either side of a shoulder intervening the surfaces of said columns.

2. In a system of the class described, a tally sheet having parallel tabulating columns, and a plurality of shoulders, each of said shoulders lying between two adjacent columns, each shoulder extending upwardly from the surface of one of said columns, said shoulders forming an abutment against which is adapted to be placed the edge of a waiters check whereby the surface of the check is adapted to lie substantially flush with the surface of one tabulating column and the desired data may be stamped simultaneously on the check and in the column.

3. In a system of theclass described, a tally sheet having certain columns bounded by shoulders intervening said columns, and parallel demarcations above and below said columns and at right angles thereto.

4. In a system of the class described, a tally sheet composed of columns formed by overlapping a series of independent sections, whereby the edges of the sections serve as the lateral boundaries of the columns.

5. In a system of the class described, a tally sheet having parallel tabulating columns bounded by shoulders forming parts of the sheet, and a check, the side of which is adapted to be placed in abutting engagement with the edge of one of said shoulders, whereby the check is adapted to lie in substantially flush relation to one of said columns, and the check and column may be simultaneously stamped.

6. In a system of the class described, a tally sheet having a horizontal space within parallel boundary lines and containing the designations of the waiters, a plurality of parallel vertical columns bounded by intervening shoulders, and another horizontal space within parallel boundary lines, said last mentioned space intersecting with said vertical columns.

7. In a system of the class described, a tally sheet having two horizontal spaces, each being within parallel boundary lines, one of which has designations for the waiters, vertical columns intermediate said horizontal spaces, and a plurality of shoulders, one shoulder being at one side of each vertical column, each shoulder extending upward from the surface of one of said columns. 7 V Y 8. Ina system of the class described, a tally sheet formed with parallel tabulating columns, one wall or boundary of each column extending upwardly from the adjacent edge of the column preceding it, whereby a check may be placed against the wall or boundary of one columnand be assembled in substantially flush relation to the surfaceof the adjacent tabulating column.

In testimony that Iclaim the foregoing as my invention, I hereunto sign my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN EDWARD CONDON.

\Vitnesses:

J AS. H. GRIFFIN, GEORGE F. MAGUIRE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

